After their 52-21 thrashing of the Carolina Panthers in Week 10 Youth Jordan Berry Jersey , the team now has a chance to rest and relax and prepare for the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11. Today in the Black-and-gold links article, we talk about the Steelers’ offensive line. When someone talks about the team’s offensive resurgence, you can’t talk about skill players like Ben Roethlisberger, James Conner or Antonio Brown without talking about the big men up front doing the dirty work.A combination of high draft picks and hard-working undrafted free agents and what you have is a Mike Munchak masterpiece.Let’s get to the news:Steelers’ offensive line bonding into NFL’s bestBy: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewThe Pittsburgh Steelers just piled up 52 points, their highest total in 34 years. Seven players scored touchdowns, Ben Roethlisberger threw five touchdown passes and compiled the fourth perfect passer rating of his career, and the running game contributed 138 yards.It was an all-around dominating performance on offense, and the team’s franchise quarterback made sure nobody forgot about the contributions of the five players blocking for him.“It all starts up front,” Roethlisberger said Thursday after the Steelers dismantled the Carolina Panthers, 52-21, for their fifth consecutive win. “You can say what you want about the skill guys, but we’re nothing without them up front.”Roethlisberger touting his offensive linemen is hardly new. He customarily credits his blockers when dishing out reasons for the offense’s success. It’s just that now whenever Roethlisberger calls his linemen the best in the NFL, there’s few who can argue with him.Consider that:鈥?In the past six games, Roethlisberger has been sacked four times, and one of those came on the last offensive play at Baltimore when he gave himself up to allow the clock to continue running. The Steelers are on pace to allow fewer than 25 sacks for a third consecutive season.鈥?James Conner, stepping in for the absent Le’Veon Bell, has four 100-yard rushing games, including three in a row during a winning streak that has catapulted the Steelers from last to first in the AFC North with a 6-2-1 record.鈥?Roethlisberger has completed 66 percent of his passes, his best percentage in three years, he’s on pace to reach 5,000 yards for the first time in his 15-year career and set a career best in touchdown passes. He has thrown one interception in his past four games.“The offensive line has been playing spectacular,” Roethlisberger said after the Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens, 23-16, on Nov. 4. “Everything you’re asking them to do, blocking in the pass game and the run game, opening holes against the No. 1 defense in the world, there’s a reason they are that good.“You can say what you want about James and the running game, but it starts up front. We go as those guys go.”Tim Benz: Can the Steelers finally exploit Jacksonville’s offensive line?By: Tim Benz, Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewUpdated 17 hours agoHeading into the Steelers’ playoff game against Jacksonville last season Youth Jesse James Jersey , Pittsburgh fans and media — and even some in the locker room — seemed to have a pretty clear-cut opinion of the Jaguars.After seeing the 30-9 beatdown administered by the Jags during the regular season at Heinz Field, most folks around these parts seemed to think:鈥?The Jags defense is frightening.鈥?Leonard Fournette is a beast.鈥?Quarterback Blake Bortles can be had.鈥?The offensive line is pretty good. But not great.Those predictions resulted in a mixed bag of accuracy during the rematch.The Jaguars defense allowed 42 points and 545 yards. Yet it also created two turnovers resulting in touchdowns. Bortles wasn’t dynamic, but he was efficient, going 18-for-24 with no interceptions and a touchdown. And Fournette followed a 181-yard performance in the regular-season matchup with another 108 yards and three touchdowns.But how about that Jags offensive line? It was a constant. For a unit with only moderate acclaim, the blockers looked like the 1995 Cowboys.Between games, Steelers defenders mostly brushed off Fournette’s success , chalking up the Game 1 yardage to one 90-yard gallop in garbage time.“If you watch the film, guys weren’t really getting blocked off the ball,” defensive end Stephon Tuitt said before the January rematch. “It’s just holes. Gaps. They exploited our gaps really well.”Also that week, defensive end Cameron Heyward claimed “it was just three or four plays” that hurt his team in the first game against Jacksonville.In the playoff game, it was more like 40 plays as the Jaguars offense continually controlled the line of scrimmage and opened creases for Fournette, T.J. Yeldon and even a scrambling Bortles.“We were able to get a hat on a hat,” Jacksonville offensive lineman A.J. Cann saidafter the win. “We stayed on our blocks. The running backs found holes and got positive yards.”Throughout the two games, the Jaguars offensive line paved the way for 395 yards rushing and allowed just two sacks.However, that unit hasn’t been the same this year.How the Steelers and Le’Veon Bell both win the divorceBy: Jeremy Fowler, ESPNNo one wanted it to come to this.Not Le’Veon Bell, who, money aside, wanted to retire a Pittsburgh Steeler.Not the Steelers, who offered Bell a $70 million extension this offseason, though without the guarantees to Bell’s liking.And certainly not Pittsburgh fans, who cheered on Bell for his prolific play for five seasons.But Bell’s lost season -- finalized Tuesday when he didn’t show by the 4 p.m. deadline to sign his franchise tag -- was a byproduct of two stubborn sides that weren’t meant to negotiate.Bell was willing to forfeit $14.5 million to become a standard-bearer for undervalued top players everywhere, banking on a lucrative deal as an unrestricted free agent in March.The Steelers won’t budge from their traditional -- maybe archaic -- contract structures that in most cases don’t offer full guarantees beyond a signing bonus.If Bell was with another franchise, he might not be in this situation.But both sides can still get what they want, and be better off for it.(More in the link above...) The first quarter of the Steelers’ 2018 season was rough. Thankfully, the second quarter yielded a perfect record to top the 1-2-1 start. So as I am tasked to break out the red pen and evaluate the season’s second quarter, I no longer do it from the ledge.As I’ve stated all along, I’m not a football coach or a teacher, but I play one in blogs and podcasts. Each week of the 2018 exhibition and regular season, I’ve graded the efforts of the Black-and-gold via “the eye test”. Grading games is an extremely difficult and somewhat thankless task. While the coaches’ grades Womens Maurkice Pouncey Jersey , of course, are what count the most, the media and fans can’t help but evaluate as well. So you, the reader, get to vote as well. You even get to grade the grader in the comments section.So let’s take a look at BTSC’s perceptions of the 2018 season’s second quarter:OffenseThe Steelers’ offense is ranked fourth in the league with 415.2 ypg and ninth with a 28.4 points per game (ppg) average through eight contests. In 2017, they scored at a rate of 26.4 ppg. After an inconsistent start, Randy Fichtner’s unit has resembled the juggernaut that they’ve promised to be. Ben Roethlisberger was the league’s passing leader through the first quarter (1,414 yards/353.5 yards per game), but his average has dropped 9 ypg. Despite that, he was a much better quarterback in the second quarter. He admittedly was not on the same page with everybody and now seems to be. By spreading the ball around to a myriad of guys (Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ryan Switzer, Vance McDonald, Jesse James and James Conner) and no longer forcing it to AB, he has thrived. Ben’s offensive line wasn’t reminiscent of the high-caliber unit of past years in the first quarter, but now is playing like an elite squad. Injuries have hampered Marcus Gilbert, but Matt Feiler has filled in tremendously at RT. The remaining four of Ramon Foster, Dave DeCastro, Alejandro Villanueva and Maurkice Pouncey have been dominating oncoming defenders, protecting Ben (2 sacks allowed in the second quarter of 2018 and 11 overall) and opening gaping holes for James Conner. Mike Munchak’s guys are close to being the class of the league.Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY SportsLe’Veon Bell has been missed less and less with James Conner’s emergence as an elite back in the league with nine rushing TDs and another on a reception. No. 30’s 706 rushing yards on the ground ranks him second in the league and his 379 yards as a receiver puts him on track for a better output than Bell in 2017. His penchant for picking up the blitz no longer creates concern. Conner has done well, making Bell a likely backup upon his possible return.Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY SportsAntonio Brown is not having the receptions and yardage season that he’s accustomed to. But his nine receiving TDs leads the NFL and is only four behind his career high in 2014. Double-teaming AB has forced balls to go in other directions, mostly to JuJu Smith-Schuster. JuJu (13th in the league) leads the team with 53 catches for 672 yards versus Antonio’s 51 for 594 (T-14th). The disconnect between Ben and AB has lessened with No. 84 seemingly accepting that Ben can’t continue to force the ball into him. The deep threat that Martavis Bryant provided hasn’t yet been replicated yet, as Justin Hunter and James Washington haven’t seized the WR3 role. However, the rookie seems to be getting looks again.Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY SportsThe TE duo of Jesse James (336 yards on 21 catches) and Vance McDonald (346 yards on 26 catches) has been very solid. As a unit, they’ve got a combined 47 grabs on 61 targets and their yards-after-catch have been remarkable — a combined 368. Vanimal is ranked 25th in the league with 234, while Jesse registers in at 83rd with 134.Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesOverall Offense Grade: AThe offense has found their identity. AB is scoring touchdowns and Ben is no longer trying to appease him. Conner is playing at an elite level, behind an elite line. Vance and Jesse James take turns being valuable and JuJu is a joy joy.Offensive Valedictorian: James Conner Custom New York Jets Jerseys